The present invention relates generally to toys of the type that are twirled about a leg or ankle of the user and require a skipping or hopping movement of the user's free leg, and more particularly to a novel leg-twirled skipping toy operative to produce bubbles when twirled about the user's ankle in a particular manner.
Toys of the type employing a ball or other weighted object secured to the outer end of a rod or tether having a leg encircling loop or foot attachment means at its opposite end to facilitate twirling of the ball and rod in a circular path about the user's leg or ankle are generally known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,140,871 and 3,165,315. Toys of this type, which may also be referred to as exercise devices, require the user to move his/her lower leg encircled by the loop end of the rod in a generally circular path so as to impart a centrifugal rotation to the ball. The skill of the user is further challenged by making the rod or tether of sufficient length that the free leg of the user must be raised in a skipping or hopping action during each revolution of the ball in order not be impede the twirling rod or tether.
The present invention introduces an additional feature to toys of the aforedescribed type by providing a bubble-producing mechanism at the outer end of the rod or tether for producing bubbles in response to rotation or twirling of the toy about the user's leg or ankle in a particular manner.